A peaceful discussion about art that does not intend to offend anybody.(very opinionated)

[fr0stfyre1]

Is it just me, or is the art from Duelyst in the last few expansions really feel a little off? I’m no art expert but just bear with me here(this is gonna be long). Over the last few expansions, as per me, the art has really fallen to shit. It’s not bad per se, it’s still far better than anything I could ever draw, but it’s really fallen from what it used to be. It isn’t what it used to be. I don’t mean to disrespect the artist who drew it. He/she/(insert preferred pronoun) is insanely good. Seriously good. But it isn’t good enough. The art, in the beginning, was so much better, and the current art really feels like a few thoughtlessly drawn comic panels. I came across Duelyst back when I didn’t know what game development entailed. I opened up google typed in pixel art, and bam got a few results. As I looked through the stuff, a couple of insanely good sprites from Duelyst popped up, and I just got hooked. I pulled up Artstation, and I was just in love with what they had. Since it was the art that had me hooked on to Duelyst in the first place, it really does mean a whole lot to me. I can understand that it’s not easy to draw stuff, and hats off to all the artists for actually making all the art that we can enjoy. But recently, I don’t know why, but the art just fell to shit all of a sudden.

I main Magmar(sorry guys), and not having played for several seasons, I boot up Duelyst and note the new expansion. So several losing streaks later, I opened up Ragnora, and behold the terrible art. Let me show you a picture to demonstrate what I mean.

And you would think- “Hey that looks alright,” but NO. IT AIN’T.
For comparison’s sake, look at Starhorn.

Or my boy Va’ath.

I think what might stand out the most is the stylistic difference here. Ragnora, compared to Va’ath and Starhorn; there is a tremendous difference in the two styles. It’s a clashing mess, and just plain ugly to look at both of the together. I’m a staunch supporter of the initial Duelyst Art, which I feel Counterplay did perfectly. Here’s what I mean.

Take a look at Va’ath’s flaming tail. The effect just looks like embers. Kinda like a green edition of Charizard, except a live action charizard.

But here, when you look at Ragnora, there’s just this insane difference in the realism involved. Like this:

I mean just look at that effect next to the very large ‘wtf’. Thats supposed to be a cloud of dust. And the realism is just a bit lacking. The flames are very questionable, in comparison to Va’ath’s tail. I agree the art is still good, but it’s a far cry from the originals.

[fr0stfyre1]

Since I’m limited to five images per post, I’ve got to continue here. Anyways,
This isn’t just something prevalent in Ragnora. A lot of the original stuff that made the art look really cool is really forgotten in the latest pieces.

In this particular comparison between Maehv and Kelaino, note the punk hair. Between both, the difference is obvious. Maehv feels like somebody out of an anime, and Kelaino looks realistic as hell.

This is the full Mechaz0r set. It’s one of the oldest bits of art since the core set. And it looks amazing. Even alone, each of the Mechazor pieces have a ridiculous amount of detail put into them, while still maintaining that realistic look. Chassis, Helm, Wings, all of them are really distinct.(Also did anybody notice how each one of their colors is for a faction? I think that was the initial plan, but then they ditched that to make one hella cool robot.(uk, yellow-lyonar, blue-vanar, red-songhai(flames?), purple abyss(thin legs like wraithlings), green-magmar, yeah?))

But all that aside, just notice the difference in art between this, and this: Again, obvious difference. Some might think it’s good, but I’m of the opinion that the art really fell apart here. It just doesn’t fit into Duelyst. Just looking at Va’ath alongside Ragnora feels odd to me.
Just the difference in teeth puts me off. Also you might notice thta Ragnora’s fiery horns are clearly intended to be similar to Va’ath’s flaming horns. They clearly don’t look similar at all. The color difference is also really glaring. Ragnora’s color scheme seems to have taken inspiration from a flaming edition of TMNT. And that’s the whole problem. This weird inconsistency between the old art and the new art is just terrible. It looks weird. I would just wish that Counterplay would remain consistent with their art. It looks amazing, no doubt about that, but why not maintain some consistency? I know it doesn’t make much of a difference on the gameplay, so I guess nobody really cares, but atleast to me, the Art makes up a huge part of the immersion of the game. What do you guys think. Should the art go back to normal? Or does nobody give a shit?

[epicflygon]

Duelyst has brought in new artists and the artist’s skills have improved, if you don’t like it then you’re one of the few.

[yerboijosh]

the new art isn’t bad imo. It’s just different. I’d rather see the old art be updated to fit the new style.

[DKFlamey]

I don’t hate the new art, but I absolutely agree it’s not as good as the old. Glad to hear I’m not the only one!

I always chalked it up to somehow losing the old artist, and choosing to let the new one do what they were good at instead of forcing them to try to emulate the original style.

The two clashing art styles also bugs me, but if I’m right and they don’t have the old artist there’s no way to make the new art match the old, and the idea of them redoing the original art in the new style is too heartbreaking to contemplate.

[fr0stfyre1]

I definitely don’t say that the new art is bad. It’s Good. Very good. But it never hits the standard of the old art

[trulster]

Agree. The new style is too pulpy with the garish colour palette. But seems there is no way back

[halcyon98]

I personally never bothered comparing the new art to old art in terms of quality, but I obviously noticed the inconsistency. It would be great if some of the art was updated into a single art style.

Anyways, I understand how you can favor the old art, but I think the new art has its perks as well. Camera shots are more diverse, and the color schemes are much brighter. New art also show a lot more facial expressions and poses.

[cerano]

The new art style is WAY better than the old art style, because it fits the art style of the battlefields and the menu/title paintings.

I have been loathing the fact, that Duelyst has 3 different art styles (pixel, “painting”, anime/cartoon).

They should replace all the anime art with “painting” art.

[excogitator]

Like everyone else has already said, the new style and the old differ by style, and it’s perfectly fine if you prefer one over another.

In the olden days, Duelyst had a more “toned down,” and almost “translucent” look to everything, sort of like deep sea animals or frosted glass. The colours were much more subtle and almost dream-like

Now, the aestetic has shifted to look more intense and fiery. All the UI looks like they’re made of Anodized Titanium. Naturally, the portraits have shifted from mainly stationary with maybe one or two intense colours to very dynamic looking, with plenty of flames/flowing hair/sparks.

[themaxximus]

The two styles are different and I have often thought I don’t like how noticeably different the generals pictures are during a match but let me say this:
Your opinion is yours, you can like one more than the other, but don’t come here to talk about how one is worse than the other. You’re not praising the old artists when you do that, you’re tearing down the dev(s) who approved the art, the new artist(s) and any players who love the new art style. It’s a crappy thing to do. “Save duelyst’s art”? Please.

[mmf]

Nice title change

[epicflygon]

Gotta make sure we are as gender neutral as possible to offend absolutely no one!

[1pancakess]

the main difference i see in your picture comparisons are the older art pieces having backgrounds and titles that make them look more refined as an overall image but the characters themselves look more flat and 2-dimensional compared to the newer art that has more detailed shading.
your comment about kelaino looking more realistic than maeve is especially odd. in both pictures the character has an unrealistic volume of hair and armor that looks more cosmetic than functional.

[cloudfrog]

realtalk tho, i think the problem is not which art is better, it’s how consistent is the new art with the old. and i do think doing away with the excessive cloud and electricity effects is like the smallest thing they can do for us.

[DKFlamey]

Flat and 2-dimensional isn’t a bad thing, though. It’s a stylistic choice that makes it look more refined.

The original art has a more… “adult” look to me, if that makes any sense. It looks more like stylish concept art, whereas the new stuff looks more cartoony and eyecatching, like something you’d see on the packaging of a toy or video game.

Both have their merits but the former is so much cooler and more unique to me.

[sinpathy]

I think this comparison is very identical to the art style revamp of Maplestory. You can draw up a few references online but the stylistic approach was pretty similar, and it in turn made the game more… compact?

The artworks before were great, but they were too individualistic. If the art is stylized as a whole, the game would look and feel better.

Ties into UI as well. They should adjust some stuff like the action log at the left and the action bar.

I hope some people get what I’m saying, might just be an artist’s opinion.

[sinpathy]

The eyecatching part and the stuff about packaging was spot on. It feels better to look at because of the colors as well. The palette makes you feel like you’re playing a game, rather than the more realistic approach which felt more like concept art.

[atheistmantis]

Thats supposed to be a cloud of dust. And the realism is just a bit lacking. The flames are very questionable, in comparison to Va’ath’s tail.

I agree, I absolutely love the old art and I don’t like very very much this newer one.
I find the old style much cooler and less kiddish-cartoonish, but I’m getting used to it, and now I just wish the artists would make new versions of the old characters illustrations, just for coherence.
… All that said, over all Duelyst art is

[anon52821416]

Personally one of the things that drew me to Duelyst is its Pixel-art. If anything, I’d just complain about the fact that the factions are “color coded” (Mag green, Abyss purple, Vanar blue etc.) which makes Neutral cards the best looking ones by default, as they can actually have variety. It’s likely just me, but I avoid playing Abyss altogether because of their overall aesthetic, lol.

While on the topic of Pixel-art, I’d wish CPG would recycle the art in the cards that are getting rotated (Capt. Hank anyone?) and just give them new effects.